The Polar Express (2017 film)
|producer= |writer= Chris Van Allsburg |screenplay= |story= |based on= |starring= |narrator=Bex Taylor-Klaus |music= |cinematography=Phil Méheux |editor=Tim Mertens |studio= |distributor=Warner Bros. Pictures |release=November 17, 2017 |time=112 minutes |country=United States |language=English |ratings=PG (MPAA) |budget=$150 million |gross=$370 million |preceded=The Street of San Francisco'' |followed=''Eddie'' }} The Polar Express is an 2017 animated holiday film that is based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg and the 2004 film of it's same name. It was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and produced by Movie Land Animation Studios and Amblin Entertainment. This motion picture was directed by Rich Moore and Steven Spielberg from the writer Chris Van Allsburg, story by Lenny Corcovado, Tom McGrath and Jennifer Lawrence, producers John Edwards and Nicholas Stoller, and screenplays by Karey Kirkpatrick, Steven Spielberg and Tyler Lopez. The movie title was released on November 17, 2017 in the United States alongside The Star and Justice League. Plot On the night of Christmas Eve, a boy is growing bitterly skeptical of the existence of Santa Claus. As he struggles to sleep, he witnesses the arrival of a steam locomotive on the street outside his home, and dons his robe to investigate, tearing the robe's pocket as he retrieves it. Outside, the train's conductor introduces the train as the Polar Express, bound for the North Pole. The boy initially declines to board, but jumps aboard the train as it pulls away. In a passenger car, he befriends a spirited and amicable girl, and a condescending know-it-all. The train stops to pick up an impoverished child, Billy, who also declines to board; Billy changes his mind, and the boy applies the emergency brake to allow him to board, much to the conductor's dismay. As Billy sits alone in the train's rear dining car, hot chocolate is served in the passenger car, and the girl saves her hot chocolate for Billy. As she and the conductor cross to the dining car, the boy notices she left her ticket behind unpunched, but loses hold of the ticket between the cars when he attempts to return it. The ticket reenters the passenger car, but not before the conductor notices its absence and escorts the girl back to the rear car. The know-it-all claims that the conductor will jettison the girl from the back of the train; the boy recovers the ticket and dashes to the dining car in search of the conductor, climbing onto the roof from the rear platform. He meets a hobo camping on the roof, who offers him coffee and discusses the existence of Santa Claus and belief in ghosts. The hobo skis with the boy along the tops of the cars towards the train's coal tender, where the hobo disappears. In the locomotive's cab, the boy discovers that the girl has been made to supervise driving the train while engineers Steamer and Smokey replace the train's headlight. The train stops while the conductor witnesses a herd of caribou that is blocking their way, The conductor pulls Smokey's beard, causing him to let out animal-likes noises, therefore clearing the caribou horde. The train continues on, but at extreme speed. The throttle's split pin sheers off, causing the train to accelerate uncontrollably down a 179-degree grade and onto a frozen lake. Smokey uses his hairpin to repair the throttle as the train drifts across the ice to realign with the tracks moments before the ice breaks. The boy returns the girl's ticket for the conductor to punch, and as the three return to the passenger car, the boy is accosted by an Ebenezer Scrooge marionette, taunting him and calling him a doubter, in reality controlled by the hobo. The train finally arrives at the North Pole, where the conductor announces that one of the passengers will be chosen to receive the first gift of Christmas, from Santa himself. The girl discovers Billy still alone in the rear car, and she and the boy persuade him to come along; however, the boy accidentally unhitches the car, sending it back along the line to a railway turntable in Santa's workshop. The children sneak through an elf command center and a gift sorting office before accidentally being dumped into a giant sack full of presents, where they discover that the know-it-all kid stowed away. The elves escort them out as Santa arrives. A jingle bell flies loose from the galloping reindeers' reins; the boy initially cannot hear it ring, until he finds it within himself to believe. He shows the bell to Santa, and Santa selects the boy to receive the bell as the first gift of Christmas. The boy asks to keep the jingle bell, Santa says yes, and he places it in his robe pocket. The wayward rear car is returned to the train as the children board to return home, but then the boy discovers that he had lost the bell through the hole in his robe pocket. He returns home and awakens Christmas morning to find a present containing the bell. He and his younger sister Sarah ring the bell to their delight; their parents, not believing in Santa, lament how the bell is "broken". As an adult, the boy reflects on how his friends and his sister grew deaf to the bell as their belief faded over the years. However, the bell still rings for him, as it will do for all those who believe. Cast * Jack McGraw as the Hero Boy * Anna Faris as Sister Sarah * T.J. Miller as the Conductor * Bex Taylor-Klaus as the narrator * Michael J. Fox as Know-it-All Production It was announced that its film was based on the book of its same name. Sound The sound from was recorded, designed by Shannon Mills and edited by Michael Silvers at Skywalker Sound and re-recording was mixed by Gabriel Guy at Disney Digital Studio Services who are providing this motion picture with Big Hero 6. Visual effects The visual effects from were created by Movie Land Digital Production Services who had provided this motion picture with Illumination's Despicable Me 3. Music soundtracks The music from the movie was composed by Henry Jackman. Release The theatrical release film will be released on November 17th, 2017 to theaters in RealD 3D, IMAX and Dolby Cinema. Marketing The teaser poster shows on December 8th, 2016. The theatrical release poster shows on October 17th, 2017. The international theatrical release poster shows on October 24th, 2017. Home media The home media release film will be available for this purchase from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray and DVD on February 27th, 2018 and on Digital Download and Movies Anywhere on February 13th, 2018. This release includes the new mini-movie featuring Tom the Hand, Mousey. The mini-movie were only available for this purchase on Blu-ray, Ultra HD Blu-ray and iTunes. Credits See also * The SPI version of The Polar Express * The Polar Express, a book that is based on the 2004 film and the 2017 film. References Category:2017 films Category:2017 animated films Category:2010s adventure films Category:2010s holiday films Category:American Christmas films Category:Animated Christmas films Category:Animated buddy films Category:Films based on children's books Category:Warner Bros. films Category:Warner Bros. animated films Category:Movie Land Animation Studios films Category:Amblin Entertainment films Category:Amblin Entertainment animated films Category:Films scored by Henry Jackman Category:Films set in the 1950s Category:Films set on trains Category:Films set in Canada Category:Films set in Michigan Category:Films directed by Rich Moore Category:Films directed by Steven Spielberg Category:American buddy films Category:IMAX films Category:Fictional trains Category:English-language films Category:2010s musical films Category:2010s musical comedy films Category:Animated films about trains Category:American films about trains Category:Films featuring anthropomorphic characters Category:Films based on works by Chris Van Allsburg Category:Santa Claus in film Category:Films set in the Arctic Category:2010s American films Category:American films Category:Screenplays by Steven Spielberg